The Edwardsville Arts Center has added a new art class to its adult class lineup. In late January, the EAC added a stained glass mosaics class on Monday nights which has been quite popular.

EAC Gallery Manager Carolyn Tidball explained that they added the class after Kelsey Seidel, an SIUE student majoring in art education, expressed interest in teaching it. “We’ve been wanting to do a stained glass class for a long time, but we didn’t have a teacher to do it. We found Kelsey and she was interested in teaching it. We had all the supplies that we were just waiting to use. So we’re pretty excited about it,” Tidball said.

Stained glass mosaics is offered every Monday from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. “It’s a three-hour long class because you need a little bit of time to plan a design, glue all your glass pieces down and add the grout,” Tidball explained.

“We have all the glass cut and prepared to glue down and then you draw your own design,” Tidball noted. “We have some examples that you can choose from or use as inspiration. You do all the gluing of the glass down and choosing where the glass goes, and then grouting afterwards.”

Although the EAC supplies the pre-cut glass and grout, participants need to bring with them a couple of supplies. “We ask students to bring a glass picture frame and then that glass is used to glue the pieces on. You put it in the frame when your piece is done,” Tidball said.

“You can hang it on a wall in your house or in a window to let the light shine through. We also ask students to bring Goop glue. It can be found at Home Depot or Lowe's.”

Most stained glass mosaics class participants take two or three classes to finish their project. “It just depends on how quick you go and how complex your design is. Depending on what you do, I think it’s possible to get it done in one class,” Tidball added.

She emphasized that the stained glass mosaics class is not a drop-in class like several of the others offered at EAC. “You do have to register for it online. There’s a link on our website where you can register and pay for it online,” Tidball pointed out.

The new stained glass mosaics class joins several other adult evening classes that are offered every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Mondays are drawing classes, Tuesdays are ceramics and Wednesdays are painting and ceramics classes. All of these classes are drop-ins which means no registration is required.

The EAC also offers two other evening art events each month. Paint and Party, with Sarah Willig, happens the first Thursday of each month. Paint and Party is $35 and takes place at Cleveland-Heath in Edwardsville. Food is not included.

There’s also First Friday Watercolor with Marty Spears which takes place the first Friday of every month at the EAC. The First Friday Watercolor class is $25.

All supplies are provided for both Paint and Party and First Friday Watercolor and both require online registration. Visit the EAC’s website or Facebook page for the upcoming April 6 Paint and Party and April 7 First Friday Watercolor paintings that will be made at the corresponding events.

In addition to the adult classes, the EAC offers free art classes for kids every Saturday from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. No registration is required for the Saturday kids’ classes – simply drop-in.